Air Arabia in Sharjah and the Etihad Aviation Group in Abu Dhabi have teamed up to launch a new budget carrier in the United Arab Emirates.
The arrival of the new airline increases the competition in the nation’s aviation sector while also giving residents of the UAE a further cheap option which they can choose.
Air Arabia Abu Dhabi is the name of the new carrier, which is now the fifth airline operating from the UAE in addition to Emirates, flydubai, Air Arabia and Etihad.
As many as 9.5 million people within the country are served by the airlines.
The new carrier is based in Abu Dhabi International Airport and is aimed at the low-cost travel market sector within the Middle East.
Air Arabia Abu Dhabi will be a complement to Etihad Airways, according to a press statement yesterday.
The combined fleet operated by Air Arabia and Etihad currently totals 162 aircraft, including 53 in the former and as many as 109 in the latter.
Air Arabia currently flies to as many as 170 destinations in 50 countries via its hubs in Egypt, Morocco and Sharjah.
Etihad currently flies to just 80 destinations.
The launch of Air Arabia Abu Dhabi comes as the aviation environment in the UAE and worldwide grows ever tougher, with 17 international airlines going bankrupt just this year.
Those airlines include the likes of Jet Airways, Aigle Zur, Germania, Adria of Slovenia, XL Airways, Flybmi, and the UK version of Thomas Cook.
However, executives within the industry believe that the sector will begin to pick up as the worldwide trade war begins to ease up in advance of next year’s US Presidential elections.
Etihad Aviation Group’s CEO Tony Douglas says that passengers will be offered a new option for cheap travel in and out of Abu Dhabi by the new airline.
Air Arabia’s group CEO, Adel Al Ali, says that over the years, the UAE has become a leading hub in the field of travel and tourism and that the new partnership will help to give more service to the expanding local and regional low-cost travel segment.
Neither of the two airlines has yet revealed the precise destinations that will be served by the new carrier, or its exact launch date.
Abu Dhabi Airports claims that the new airline will result in a big increase in the destinations served by Abu Dhabi International Airport and will offer passengers the chance to go to destinations that have previously been left unserved.
The new airline will cater to markets like India, Russia, Pakistan, North Africa and regions in the CIS and East Europe that have been underserved despite their great potential.
Anyone planning to fly on the new airline or any other airline in the UAE should take out travel insurance before they do so.
Many things can happen when you travel, such as cancelled flights, unexpected illness and loss or theft of valuables, and travel insurance is a great way to guard against the financial repercussions of such events.
